Which camcorder for imac/ipad please?

My plan is to at last make the 'jump' and leave the world of PC and endless windows updates for the time being and enter the world of the Mac....

I know, there are as many of us here who will make convincing cases both for and against this intended move, however, it's my money and that's how I'm going to spend it (although a Morewood Zula with a Lefty....).

Le famille Slack are also wishing to document bits of our lives in moving pictures and so a camcorder has been voted onto the list and I started to research which one would be best for the iMac.... oh dear... It seems iMovie is not all that tolerant towards many of them and I'm getting increasingly confused by all the various possible conflicts and instabilities that are/have been reported on the multiple forums, discussion groups et al.

So, I thought it best to cut through the crap and consult the oracle of STW... to give me a whole load more to sift through, knowing that there will be gems of insight and genuine experience in amongst the myths and legend.

Well I don't have a Mac (strictly Windows here, mostly for work reasons), but I do know that my iPad takes great video, so would an iPad work for you? The later iPads, the iPad Mini and the later iPhones(4s onwards) all take 1080p video, so would one of those be an option?

I think it really depends on what sort of videoing you'll be doing with the family. The Go Pro 3 a fantastic little camera but it doesn't have any Zoom, LCD (unless you buy the add on). Because it's small the battery is tiny, so it doesn't last long, so you'll need spares. Factor in buying these add ons.

The GoPro is awesome for some things and rubbish for others
A Digital SLR is awesome for some things and rubbish for others
A camcorder is probably obsolete in many ways as the other 2 can do most of it now.

next question Budget?
Depending on how much you have to invest then that is another long or short list

Also if your serious about doing videos then I would suggest a good editing suite like Adobe Premiere (elemets version). In fairness you could probably get a much better camera and software by not buying apple for a premium and getting a fit for purpose PC. Even heading down Linux/KDNLive for editing for free.

Thank you people! Your comments re Go Pro limitations noted and yes, I did omit budget from my initial request.. Circa £300, so nothing too fancy or cheap, it will be used for 'documenting' family life, events and the usual home video times.

Loving the Flip Mino suggestion, thank you! Simplicity and ease of use rules! What is the difference between the Mino and the Ultra?

Agreed. iPhone is spot on though, and better quality.
That said, I've had a brief dabble at filming with my DSLR. All I have to do is pop the SD card into the iMac and, bingo, the movie is transferred over. I've not got to grips with iMovie yet though, not really tried.

I'm certainly err-ing towards the Flip... Thanks for the heads up on that one bigG... loving the ease of use/simplicity thing and from reviews read so far they are certainly plug and play with the Mac.... but then that's why I'm jumping to Mac...

My plan is to at last make the 'jump' and leave the world of PC and endless windows updates for the time being and enter the world of the Mac....

.. loving the ease of use/simplicity thing and from reviews read so far they are certainly plug and play with the Mac.... but then that's why I'm jumping to Mac...

If you are going from PC to mac solely for these reasons, you may be disappointed .

Prepare yourself to be both underwhelmed and a little frustrated as neither of these reasons hold to be true.

If your coming from a PC World special then yes you will see a great deal of improvement as the HW will be of a lesser quality and the SW will be fairly awful.
For the amount a mac costs you could custom build a very snazzy PC for yourself that will have equal or better performance than the mac, be compatible with more stuff (HW and SW) and have enough left over to spend more than a measly £300 notes on a cam corder. You'd have enough for a decent starter DSLR as well.

I've recently moved from windows to mac, my mac was slower than my lower specked w7 PC (due to the SSD). Now I have installed an SSD in my mac, it is as quick - slightly quicker than my 4yr old w7 PC.

I didn't intend this to read as a PC v mac post as neither one is really better than the other, just different. I like my MacBook and enjoy using it but that doesn't mean I now hate on every other OS.

If you want one cos it looks nice and is kinda cool, you'll be very pleased with it.

Back to your original question - if you were using a windows PC you would not need to ask, it really would "just work"

@ captainslow - thanks for your comments chap. See where you're coming from too. Design ethos is not a consideration, however I do like the prospect of losing the birdsnest of cables. Wireless capability with music streaming at home and at second home also seems to make sense in a way.

My main motive is that I'm led to believe the Mac is more robust and secure than PC - however (and this is a big 'however'), our current set-up is embarrassingly low tech - 7yr old HP desktop running Vista with just 1gb RAM and a 10yr old HP XP laptop.... so quite frankly, I daresay that a PC World 'special' would easily outperform what we use at the mo.

My other 'gripe' is the daily AVG Free scan seizes the desktop and Firefox consumes so much memory and Adobe Flash plug-in crashes every time embedded video is played - IE tab helps, but it's a faff. Weekly windows updates and plug in updates and application updates to woirk with the windows updates just appear too sticking plaster like and make me think that nothing is tested before it's issued as a fix.

I just want something that works and will stay working.... not too unreasonable? I'm sure I could build/spec a PC to work robustly, but I dont want to have to 'tinker' with it to maintain it. Fit and forget as it were.

I forgot to mention compatibility issues.... IME, windows HW and SW compatibility is pure chance as to whether they get along.... recent graphics card replacement being a prime example and again I'm forced to go down a ridiculous scenario of having to download graphics driver updates on a monthly basis, to then manually uninstall the existing driver and manually install the update... WTF is that all about??!!!

Possibly because I'm not tech literate enough to sort it any other way? Or because I'm dealing with a new bit of graphics HW in a 7yr old box?

No worries, glad to help..don't want to be the continuous harbinger of doom and Apple heretic, but I don't think they're necessarily more secure. A better specked and self built windows PC would give you the connectivity, security and speed you're looking for.

Remember the weakest link in any PC/mac security will be the user.

For mac security don't listen to the don't need AV crowd and install Sophos or one of the free AVs and disable java unless you need it.

That said, they do look very nice and are enjoyable to use, so enjoy, they do feel a bit special. Which one are you going for?

Their monitors look lovely but bear in mind where you will position it. One of the annoyances with my MBP is how reflective the screen is. If I'm near a window all I can see is a dashingly handsome

I forgot to mention compatibility issues.... IME, windows HW and SW compatibility is pure chance as to whether they get along.... recent graphics card replacement being a prime example and again I'm forced to go down a ridiculous scenario of having to download graphics driver updates on a monthly basis, to then manually uninstall the existing driver and manually install the update... WTF is that all about??!!!

Possibly because I'm not tech literate enough to sort it any other way? Or because I'm dealing with a new bit of graphics HW in a 7yr old box?

I don't want to sound unkind but it could be user error coupled with 7 years of neglect / abuse.

What version of windows are you running? If XP I can understand your issues and this may explain some of your issues (which lets you off the hook. If vista you are completely forgiven as that is probably their worst OS ever).

Windows 7 is a huge leap in user friendliness and stability. W8 is supposed to be better still.

I wouldn't know where to start with a self-build and the ensuing knowing what bits of HW would work with other bits of HW from different manufacturers etc etc. I like your approach of more for less but seriously... where and how I start on that road??!

What is Java? What does it do and why is it there if it needs to be disabled? See my point?

ATM, probably entry level iMAC 21.5" 2.7ghz methinks, with the 2tb time capsule for wireless doo-dah and back up. Couple that with an ipad for mobility of internet, choons and entertainment and an airport express installed in the houseboat in Norfolk and I think I'm kinda covered....

There are tons of self build guides on the web, there are shops that sell bundles of the main components so there are no interop issues and the same retailers also build PCs custom order. Have a look on buyer.com or overclockers.co.uk.

That said, you seem fairly set on the Apple experience and prepared to invest in it. You'll like the iPad and mac integration of the bookmarks and tabs in safari. Timecapsule is expensive but pretty cool (I'm told, I have no experience). I connect and external HDD and use Time machine to manually backup once per week ish.

Airport express can be a bit hit and miss I find. Some days it streams perfectly, other days there are breaks in play back other days it cant lock on so have to disable/enable AE to get it working again (Apple stuff "just works" my arse :)). I have good wifi coverage in the house...

You will like what you are suggesting and it should be relatively easy to setup and get working. You'll also get 90 days tech support with it to help as well.

Based on what you've told me here I'd say go forth and buy your mac* - you should be able to haggle a latte-moca-chocha-chino, sport jacket and roll neck into the price

Find a local Comet if you can that has stock and you'll get at least 10% off. 10% is a pretty good discount. If you're going into an Apple shop, and they wont move on price get them to throw in 3 years Applecare.

*just bear in mind my initial comments, set expectations accordingly and be ready to google/call applecare

Edit - and let us know how you get on and what camera you go for - a HD camcorder is on my todo list